I'm writing a paper for my Japanese class, and a part of one of the sentences in English is: "But this attempt at sanguinity is not what the people in the devastated areas need". What I have so far is:

でも(this attempt at sanguinity) は荒らされた所にいる人に必要じゃない。

I just can't figure out how to say that English part in it. I decided to use 鼓舞 （こぶ） for sanguinity. Some of my ideas were:

でもこの鼓舞しようとする事は。。。 でもこの鼓舞されようとする事は。。。でもこの鼓舞しようとされる事は。。。

Denshi Jisho said that ききゅう means "attempt", so if that's an okay word, I could say:

でもこの鼓舞のききゅうは。。。

I can't figure out how to say it. Is one of these close? Or am I approaching it wrong?

Oh, and I have a couple of slightly random questions. Is じゃありません the same as じゃない, just more formal? How do I do passive and attempting forms together (like I was trying above)? And are semicolons used in Japanese?

鼓舞 means encouragement (the two kanji are literally drumming and dancing) which is not really the same as sanguinity (by which I assume you mean optimism or cheerfulness?).

As to how you would phrase it, it depends on who is attempting it. Is someone trying to cheer up the disaster victims, or are they themselves showing some kind of forced cheerfulness?

Also, disaster area is usually rendered as 被災地(ひさいち).

Another thing to be careful about is the phrasing of the end of the sentence. Is this not "what" they need (i.e. they need something else more) or is it not needed (unnecessary)? Your English sentence suggests the former, but the Japanese translation the latter.

All in all when writing an essay in Japanese I think it's better to begin in Japanese rather than try to write it in English and then translate it. It will help you say what you want to say without getting tangled up in "What's the best Japanese word for this English thing I want to say?".

becki_kanou wrote:鼓舞 means encouragement (the two kanji are literally drumming and dancing) which is not really the same as sanguinity (by which I assume you mean optimism or cheerfulness?).

Hmmm...maybe 楽観 ? I couldn't find a direct translation for sanguinity, so I was trying to find something similar. I was thinking of it as being like optimism and encouragement, which is why I was thinking 鼓舞.

becki_kanou wrote:As to how you would phrase it, it depends on who is attempting it. Is someone trying to cheer up the disaster victims, or are they themselves showing some kind of forced cheerfulness?

Sorry about the lack of context. Yes, I'm saying that some people are focusing on encouraging them and cheering them up, but they currently require safe places to live and work. So other people are attempting to cheer them up.

becki_kanou wrote:Another thing to be careful about is the phrasing of the end of the sentence. Is this not "what" they need (i.e. they need something else more) or is it not needed (unnecessary)? Your English sentence suggests the former, but the Japanese translation the latter.

I was trying to say that, while optimism is important, it's not what they immediately need. So should I maybe change it to 「。。。は今大切じゃない」 ?

You're right, it would be a lot better to do it in Japanese first. I can't do that now on this one, but I'll keep that in mind in the future.